Month: February 2024

Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” When you fully forgive, God’s peace will rest upon you, and the Holy Spirit will comfort you.

A root of bitterness can grow up in a person because of unforgiveness. This root can be buried deep inside your heart and can block the flow of God’s love from penetrating deep within your heart. It also blocks the flow of God through you, making it difficult to experience God’s love for others. Unforgiveness is a major cause of depression, many people have unforgiveness but are not even aware of it because it is buried so deep inside. Sometimes people do and say things that hurt us very deeply. Sometimes we are hurt by the ones that are closest to us. Sometimes people are hurt in childhood, at the most vulnerable time of life, leaving wounds that we think are healed but they have left scars that still remind us of the wound.

These painful hurts can be buried so deep within us so that we may be unaware that we are still carrying some resentment toward the person who hurt us. Unforgiveness is a form of pride that rejects God and invites Satan in. “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:26-27 KJV)

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.”(Hebrews 12:14-15)

Unforgiveness is an unforgivable sin allowing Satan an open door into your life. “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

Jesus says; “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt 5:44-48)

“Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:14-21)

“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” (Luke 6:35-37)

Read More

And take the helmet of salvation…. The helmet obviously protects our heads and in particular, our minds and is simply the knowledge and reassurance we have of our salvation. Because we know Jesus not only in the Scriptures, but also in our hearts, this is our protection against doubt and anything else that would seek to undermine our faith. Romans 8:15-16 reads “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption (sonship) by whom we cry out Abba Father”. The ways to keep our helmet firmly intact are chiefly to have a good Bible knowledge (through regular reading), but more importantly, to make sure that our actual personal relationship with the Lord is alive and meaningful.

Read More

“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will Your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”   (Mark 11:25-26)

“Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth to you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourself, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21)

“Vengeance is Mine, and recompense. Their foot shall slip in due time…” (Deut. 32-35)

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” (Romans 13:1-4)

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven.

“Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.   But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

“But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.  And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.  And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.  So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.³² Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desirest me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

“So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”  (Matthew 18:21-35)

The 10,000 talents the servant owed was most likely 600,000 times more than the 100 denarii his fellow servant owed.   Consider R. S. Kennedy’s calculation to portray the vast difference between the two debts.   If the 100 denarii debt were paid in small silver coins, it could be carried in a person’s pocket.

The 10,000 talents debt, however, would require an army of 8,600 carriers, each lugging 60 pounds (approaching 30 kilos) of coins. If each of these carriers walked in single file a yard (or a meter) apart, the line would stretch for five miles (8.6 kilometres)!

Jesus used the sum of 10,000 talents to portray an almost unimaginably enormous debt. It is commonly pointed out that in Jesus’ time the total annual revenue of the province consisting of Idumaea, Judea and Sumaria was only 600 talents.

Jesus is not unmindful, however, of how much we can be hurt. The smaller debt was not insignificant. A labourer would work a full 12 hour day to gross just 1% of it. Since people have to live off their wage, it could take years for someone to pay off this smaller, more manageable debt.

To truly forgive someone, we need to be able, from our heart, to ask God not just to forgive them, as Jesus did, but also to bless them.

Although at first it can be very difficult to forgive someone who has hurt us or someone we love, perhaps very deeply, it is the only way we can find peace and become more like Jesus and more in God’s image, as God has had to forgive us, and will continue to forgive us.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Read More

Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one…. The shield of faith is obviously very important . Paul says “Above all” when talking about taking the shield of faith. A shield talks of protection. Faith talks of knowing, and believing God, and knowing His direction for us. For example if God was to say to you “Move to a certain town”, then that is just what He would expect you to do. Almost without doubt someone, or perhaps even several people might come and say to you “Don’t be silly, God doesn’t want you to do that!”. The fact that you KNOW what God told you to do protects you from the doubt and hurt (fiery darts) that would otherwise sway you. There are two main aspects of faith. One is simply knowing that God is, and that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” 2 Timothy 3:16,17.

The other side of faith comes and develops as we spend time with our Lord. It is knowing Him on a personal basis each day and being led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that He does nothing unless He sees His Father do it first. John 5:19. So it should be for us, having first spent time with our Lord in fellowship, to be prepared for what lies ahead in each day. Walking in faith simply means walking in obedience, not only to what we know is right behaviour, but also as led by the Holy Spirit.:

Read More

Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.

To forgive is to have faith in God – that His judgments are true and righteous.

To forgive is to conform ourselves to the image of Christ.

To hold unforgiveness against someone is like taking poison and waiting for them to die.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.

Read More

Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace…. Having your shoes on is symbolic of going out. When we go out we need to be ready to be able to meet people’s needs as we come across them. The fact that Jesus was prepared to die in order to provide our salvation means that we should at least know what to say to someone who has not yet found that salvation. If we find ourselves in a situation where we cannot answer a question or a need, we need to sort it out so that next time we will be. There is nothing wrong with saying to someone “I don’t know, but I will find out for you”, but it is much better if we can be prepared through knowing our Bible and spending time with our Lord. Having Jesus in our hearts and a good knowledge of the Bible is a very good way to get ready to go out! Jesus often spent time alone with His Father and then did the things that the Father showed Him.

Read More

Now you are saying, ‘how can I do that’? Start by taking time to really forgive others that have wronged you. How to do that? In prayer take time to picture that person in your mind. Lift him before God and say, Father I give all those unloving, bitter and hateful feeling toward this person to you. I will no longer be bitter towards this person. I surround him with love. I love that person as much as I love myself. Spend time loving God and focus on forgiving people who have been hard to love in your life. Pray for them. Consciously strive to live and walk in harmony especially those with and around you – especially with your family, people at church. The devil know the power of agreement. Mathew 18: 19-20, “ If two of you agree touching anything in this earth, it will be done by my father in heaven.”

When you catch yourself saying something angry or unloving, do not allow you to be that way. Repent immediately. Say, “ I judge myself for that in the Name of Jesus. I am not full of anger but I am full of love.”

Another way you can practice the love of God is by looking for secret ways to bless people. Do not even put your name. Let God get the glory out of it. Don’t do it to be seen or appreciated. Do it purely out of love. Look at James 2:14-17.

Finally confess the One who is the greatest. 1 John 4:4 says, “Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world.” With Him we can do everything. We can love anyone. Cultivate a conscious awareness that God is walking with you all the time

“For you are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:16-18).

Become God-inside minded. Say, “When I walk, God walks. His hands are in my hands. I have the mind of Christ. I am the temple of the Holy Spirit. When you begin to live in the light of that revelation, you are walking in love and your path will grow brighter and brighter every day. You will be hearing specific orders from Heaven at every point.

May the Lord pour out His love on us in Jesus Name.

Read More

Having put on the breastplate of righteousness…. The breastplate protects you as you face a battle or confrontation. It protects our vital organs, particularly the “heart” (soul), which is susceptible to spiritual damage. Righteousness simply means right standing before God. Right standing before God is achieved chiefly through having a good, honest, and open relationship with Him. Once again, a good relationship means spending quality time with the other person, in this case, God. Sin will separate us from God and therefore weaken our protection (breastplate), but praise God, He is quick to forgive us when we ask Him to. Putting on the breastplate of righteousness is achieved by spending time with our Lord, and then walking in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit and in accordance with Scripture

Read More